oh well - time to lower the bar and take in a blockbuster
good reviews of this one and ben affleck is usually reliable
the marketing in overdrive and so too the popcorn machine
with an unusually large crowd in the theatre a tad disquieting
the film snob in me not so happy mixing it with the masses
but - moving on - a slick set of opening shots and music
early morning in a mid-western town with nobody around
except for nick dunne (affleck) seen standing outside his house
a pensive look then into the sleek suv volvo and a drive away
next seen in 'the bar' be-moaning to his sister about his marriage
his 5th wedding anniversary and they both down on amy the wife
a phone-call, return to an invaded home and she now gone (girl)
rewind 5 years and amy in voiceover gives us the background
they met in new york - she the daughter of an ivy-league couple
also authors of a series of children's books titled amazing amy
so their own daughter living in the shadow of her famous self
suggestions this may be significant but nick and amy hit it off
rumpy-pumpy all over the place then a forced move to missouri
his mother had cancer and dies not long after the relocation
the recession hits and they both lose their creative writer jobs
amy's solitude and distaste for nick's hometown also featured
back in the current day and amy's disappearance goes viral
the parents arrive, a press conference, tv news, town vigils
suspicion mounts on nick as he seems less than distraught
his case not assisted by the revelation of him having an affair
not public knowledge yet but us the audience now also off-side
a few days after her disappearance a new perspective is introduced
amy then in voiceover takes us through her complex escape plan
staging her violent disappearance to then frame nick for murder
drives off and parks herself in a cheap motel in a distant town
a couple in the same motel then rob her of all the cash she has
forcing her to make contact with an old flame to seek digs
he (desi) provides it in a remote and luxurious holiday home
in the meantime nick has made contact with a slick lawyer
the realisation that amy has set him up means a fight is on
phew - intense plotting and a big-budget covers a lot of ground
but wait - there's more - nick makes a staged tv appeal to amy
she sees it and falls for it - sets up desi and brutally murders him
staged as rape and self-defence - slashes his throat and blood gushing
trent reznor's soundtrack pumped up to the max for added intensity
then seen arriving back home to nick covered in blood - yea right
interviewed by the police - all good - the couple then reunited
a shower scene to wash off the blood and show his torso/bum
the lawyer departs congratulating nick on the money to flow
a book, movie and franchise bar business setting him up
amy announces she is pregnant - the public go ga-ga
he apparantly now totally entrapped in the marriage
they hate each other's guts but she has him - the end
crikey - 2 and a half hours endured in this film
pretty average really - with lots to dislike also
not just hollywood's usual lack of genuine emotion
or it's propensity to throw buckets of money at films
but in this case for one the way women are presented
the psychopath wife, bitter mother-in-law, bimbo girlfriend
but the book and screenplay from the hand of a woman
so maybe i'm wrong - still - not much to like about it
certainly none of the characters are at all endearing
so that's my blockbuster for a while - nice try...
